Hi, I'm in MN and was wondering if any providers here are not on the food program? I don't want to be on the program but I want to ask what kind of foods I can serve or not serve? What kind of minimal processed or processed foods do you use for your daycare? Are they all tax deductable? I was planning to serve minimal processing only and not canned spagettio's or anything. Anything helps! You can email me your ideas and thoughts about food planning, Thanks!

Why not serve up to food program standards and get reimbursed for at least a portion of what you pay out in food? It's not a lot of paperwork and not a whole lot of nutritional requirements and you can still deduct 100% of your food costs or use the standard deduction for the number of meals you served. Either way you still have more income coming in than without the food program and you have a marketing perk for parents because they'll know you are following the minimum nutritional requirements for the children in your care.

I'm not in MN but I'm also not on the food program. You can serve pretty much whatever you want. I do tend to come *almost* up to food program standards (I don't always offer milk to drink with meals; I think that's a silly requirement when there are so many other foods that give the same nutrients in more bioavailable forms, but I digress).

Anyway, you asked about what processed/minimally processed foods we use. Personally, I avoid processed food like the plague, and serve as natural and organic as possible. I do purchase crackers, bread, condiments, organic macaroni and cheese, pasta, spaghetti sauce, organic frozen waffles, and selected canned fruits (all packed in 100% juice--peaches, pineapple, pears, fruit cocktail occasionally--the ones that are hard to get ripe). Veggies are all fresh or frozen. Chicken is organic (I buy it frozen and occasionally canned from Trader Joe's) and beef is free-range, grass-fed, organic (we buy fractions of cow from a family farmer in the area.

Never mind, I misread...but I gotta tell you...your menu is just sad. You serve 8 fruit/vegetable servings per week...they should be getting 6 to 8 per DAY. If they eat 2/3 of their meals at your house there is NO WAY parents can make up the difference. C'mon...we can all do better than that!

I'm pretty sure they get 6-8 just at my house, lol. Fruit with breakfast, fruit and veg with lunch, and fruit or veg with probably 4/5 snacks and 2 snacks a day...sounds like at least 5, often 6 or more (seconds, days when it's fruit AND veg for snack, etc).

I can't imagine serving the same meals 5 days a week for weeks on end. I feel bad enough about the 4 week rotation I'm developing...

I have not developed anything for meals yet (since I haven't opened my daycare), but do plan on starting with a four-week rotation. I will be reading up sometime on the guidelines and DO want to participate in the food program. If anyone wants to share what they have for a menu, I would love to see it. Like I said, I'm still going to be doing some reading on this topic still.

I don't serve hotdogs chicken nuggets or ham. At least not deli ham. I make chicken bites which the kids think are nuggets by coating chicken chunks with egg wash and breadcrumbs and baking. We have milk with every meal. No fruit snacks, pudding or single nutrient meals. Yogurt would get pb crackers and milk. Or a banana and milk. When you serve milk and pasta for lunches, where is your protein? Your veg? Fruit? Could you use whole wheat pasta? I think your menu needs some help. I know you could get suggestions from people here. It seems like your meals are very high fat low nutrient.

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Originally Posted by Unregistered

You can serve them anything you want if you are not on the food program. Here is my weekly menu and it starts over every Monday.